Sebastian Harris studied composition at the
Victorian College of the Arts under Mark Pollard, graduating with
Honours in 2004. During his studies he was selected to
participate in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's Young Composers
Program with Stuart Greenbaum in 2002, developing a set of
variations on the Australian National Anthem with the title
Colonial Dreaming. In 2003 Richard Gill
invited him to develop his work Motet for
Orchestra for performance by Sydney Sinfonia, a training
orchestra hosted by Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It was performed
at City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney in 2007.

Other significant works include:

oThe
Rekorderlings Suite, written for
recorder ensemble and performed in an orchestral arrangement by
regional orchestras in Albany and Bunbury in 2014 and
2015;

oChaconnefor Clarinet Quartet
(2004), first performed and recorded in 2004 by Melbourne
ensemble Clarion 214; and

oThe
WanderingEye,
commissioned by Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey for pedal organ,
contrabassoon, flügelhorn and drum set and performed in
2010

Driven by a fascination with language, he
explores the relationships between language and music through
linguistic study, choral music and opera. After completing
postgraduate linguistic studies at Monash University, he led a
cultural research project in 2009 documenting historic and
traditional stories in endangered Gunwingguan languages in Arnhem
Land Aboriginal communities. He has worked with choirs in
Melbourne, Sydney and the Northern Territory, leading Katherine's
community choir in 2013-2014 and touring in 2008 from Darwin to
Uluru as a volunteer with the Sydney Street Choir.

Always curious to find new sounds and ways to
relate to modern audiences, Harris has experimented with the
Japanese language and Australian English in vocal music with
soprano Jenna Robertson. As part of his opera studies, he
participated in a five-week residency at Opera Australia, Sydney
to observe the production process of Moffatt Oxenbould's 2012
production of Madama Butterfly with Japanese
soprano Hiromi Omura. Significant vocal works to date include
Gammon Husband for unaccompanied choir (2014)
and Your Mother, I Could Have Been (2011) for
soprano and orchestra, recorded in piano reduction with Jenna
Robertson in 2016. He continues to explore opera and vocal
composition.

Further building on an affinity with theatre
music, Harris also produced incidental music for 2004 cabaret
The Gaza Strip Show with actor/director Sivan
Gabrielovich, Darwin Festival's 2011 production of Head Full of Love written by Alana Valentine and
directed by Wesley Enoch, and Katherine Fringe's Gorrdondolmi (2012).

Since moving to Albany, Western Australia,
Harris has been working in the world of string orchestra with
Albany Chamber Orchestra. The Orchestra performed Silent Disapproval in the Albany Arts Festival Season
2018, and under the leadership of conductor Burhan Güner
commissioned Remembrance for performance on
21 July 2018.